Parking, SSHA audit on tap for Tuesday's City Council meeting

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- The City Council is scheduled to discuss two different parking issues at its meeting Tuesday night.

The meeting will begin with a presentation by City Center Authority President Mark Baker, who will be discussing his conceptual proposal for how to address the lack of parking for the facility.

"It's an aggressive proposal," Mayor Scott Johnson said Monday. He wouldn't discuss the plan, so as to not "steal (Baker's) thunder," but said, "If it comes to fruition, it will be very exciting and solve one of the city's last parking needs."

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The City Council is set to discuss the proposal under Johnson's agenda to give the City Center Authority the green light to explore the proposal in more detail.

"It's a very exciting project, one I think the community in general will fully embrace," Johnson said.

Baker could not be reached for comment Monday. He is scheduled to present at the beginning of the 7 p.m. meeting.

Also at Tuesday's meeting, Johnson will present a proposal for what parking limits at the new Woodlawn Avenue parking deck should be put in place.

At this point, there are no restrictions on how long cars can park there, but Johnson maintained throughout construction that it would be a combination of all-day and short-term parking.

The suggestion from the committee in charge of the parking garage from conception through construction is to make everything above the first floor all-day parking. Everything on the ground floor, including on-street parking around the structure and the outdoor parking lot near the garage, would be two-hour parking.

"I think it's a good balance," Johnson said. The two-hour restrictions would only be in effect from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The council also is expected to discuss the recent audit released by the state comptroller on the Saratoga Springs Housing Authority, but no vote is scheduled.

City Accounts Commissioner John Franck said he was disappointed some issues were not addressed in the audit, such as whether the city has any influence over the Saratoga Springs Housing Authority.

"I don't think they did a crackerjack job at looking at the Saratoga Affordable Housing Group," he said.

However, Franck said he felt "vindicated" by the report because many of the allegations he made about the Saratoga Springs Housing Authority -- including high travel expenses, Executive Director Ed Spychalski's high salary and the board's lack of oversight over the director -- were supported by the audit.

However, Housing Authority Board Chairman Eric Weller said he also felt "vindicated" by the audit because it did not find any major instances of malfeasance.

Johnson said he is most interested in the Saratoga Springs Housing Authority's official response to the audit -- a Corrective Action Plan -- which is required within 90 days of the audit's release.